About my dad:

I wanted to share a little bit about my dad, for those of you who don't know him yet...

My dad is someone who is genuine, patient, giving, loving, accepting, respectful, supportive, dependable, thoughtful, incredibly funny with a fantastic sense of humor, loves you for who you are, is not judgmental, he's straightforward, forgiving, can always cheer anyone up, selfless, a listener, trustworthy, loyal, open, honest, non defensive, sharing, intelligent, ambitious, an animal lover, an overall kind human being, and I can keep going on and on listing my dad's wonderful attributes, but all those fantastic traits don't really do him justice. It's hard to put into words how much my dad means to me, my mom, and our family and friends.

I feel a bit odd about asking family, friends, even strangers for help, but then I think about my dad and how he is always the 1st to lend a helping hand to anyone no matter the cost to himself. He regularly does whatever he can, generous to a fault, and sometimes even his own detriment. He has been there supporting me every step of the way and hardly ever says no if he can help it. He put me through fancy schools, helped me with my homework and projects, always cheered me on in my extra curricular activities, opened up our home in order for me to be an exchange student in England, allowed me to study abroad in Australia, and gave me the chance to branch out travel on my own starting at 16 and every year in those 15 years since. He funded my undergrad education with full room and board as well and when I wanted to go to grad school he told me to just get in and not worry about the rest because he would take care of it. He has always been there for me supporting my hopes and dreams however unrealistic those ventures may be. He has literally given me the world and every opportunity in it and while I know it was never necessary or expected of me I always planned on repaying the favor. I just hope I get the chance to. And so, I would hate it if there was something I could do and I missed the opportunity to help him when he needs it most. We need to try everything.

He's constantly on top of birthday, anniversaries, special events, and making the most out of the little celebrations in life. He consistently sends cards, gifts, never misses a phone call, he keeps in touch, and is never far from his loved ones. My dad is gregarious and makes friends fast. He isn't one to shy away from a conversation with a stranger and is always chatting people up wherever he goes and making them laugh. It's always a good time when you're with him no matter the situation. Time with him always moves too quickly. And I'm afraid that it's only going to move faster. I can't imagine not having my dad walk me down the aisle and give me away on my wedding day and miss out on sharing the father daughter dance with me. I can't picture him not being there when I finally graduate with my PhD nor being there to celebrate with me when I get my 1st, real, adult job. He is going to make an amazing grandfather one day and I can't conceive of a world where he miss out on getting to be a Papou to my future kids. I don't know how to envision a world without my dad and I very much hope I don't have to until he has grown old and gray, 35 year from now. Which is why I'm writing an open letter to you, asking for your help in any way possible.

My dad is strong and resilient. He has beaten the odds many times before with everything from hernias to hemorrhoids. In 2000, he had lung surgery to remove 1/4 of his lung due to bullous which went wrong and they thought he wasn't going to make it. They called us back to the surgical ICU to say goodbye, but thankfully he fought and lived. Although, because he lost so much blood he needed to have emergency transfusions and ended up catching Hepatitis from the tainted blood in the hospital. He managed to beat that as well through a year of Interferon treatments. He had part of his intestine removed due to diverticulitis and that spurred a change in diet. Along with that changed diet he has come back from diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, all of which he manages 100%. He doesn't let anything get him down. He always bounces back and we have no doubt that he will do so again this time around.

No donation is too small, every little bit helps. As does you sharing this link https://sites.google.com/view/jpvass/ or www.gofundme.com/jpvass and story on social media, with your family, friends, everyone you can think of. If you know any specialists or treatments or have advice and can help with connections, that would also be incredible. Thank you so much in advance! It is really appreciated!